Prince Albert & Princess Charlene Current Events - Part 3: April 2013 - February 2015


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Argie said:
Yes, she does looks stressed and uptight, but at least she made an effort to speak the language of her subjects.
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her one-sentence-message is more or less the same one that she said last year ... she had 364 day to practice :flowers:. her accent has not improved since then.

she still cannot properly pronounce "annee" but keeps pronouncing it as "an" like she did last year. goodness, now THAT should be possible to be corrected within 12 months.

this is why - despite "melina premiere's" countless attempts of trying to prove the opposite - i do doubt heavily that she ever utters any word other than 'bonjour' ' merci' etc. in french .... except for the annual 'voeux'.
 
It would have surprised me if EDOEP had not critized. But still critizing someone does not make the author of these critics very credible.On the contrary, it is unfavavorable for that person who never finds some thing positive. It makes opposite effect.

Yes, Charlene must learn french very quickly , it will make her more confortable in public events.

Princess Charlene said this year:

Je m'associe à ce message de voeux et je vous souhaite de tout coeur une très bonne année.

I associate myself to this message of wishes and I wish you a all hearfell very happy new year.

Prince Albert is the only sovereign to associate her wife to his message. Princess Charlene is not obliged to do so. She perseveres and it shows that she makes efforts.

She does not talk much but it is not her role. it is the role of Prince Albert.This is a good initiative that
we never see in other monarchies. She wants to wish a good year to the people of Monaco. She made efforts to integrat and it must be recognized instead of critizing stupidly.

The message of last year in january 2013

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200259463828992&set=vb.286449344700945&type=2&theater

Princess Charlene said

A chacun d'entre vous, nous vous souhaitons une merveilleuse année 2013

To each of you, we wish you a wonderfull year 2013

Here is the message of this year


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=741529095859632&set=vb.286449344700945&type=2&theater

Je m'associe à ce message de voeux et je vous souhaite de tout coeur une très bonne année.

I associate myself to this message and I wish you a all heartfell very happy new year.

This is not the same words of the last year. How EDEOP have you not read the difference in this message?

A foreign person will always speak french with accent. Even she stayed in France a long time and they are intelligent persons. Also criticing that she prononces some words with accent is not reasonable.

Last year, She mumbled, this year she clearly gave her message. although she was stressed.

This is my last words about this subject .
 
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She has a nice accent (I think it's better than Grace's accent at the beginning of her new life in Monaco) therefore it's a pity she can't speak it fluently
 
gerry said:
I don't think I would consider the Princess as a 'poor thing' but rather extremely focussed as she read the teleprompter along with her husband! However, I also loved the satisfied smile and nod of Monseigneur as his Princess finished reading her lines in a very nice accent indeed! :flowers: Bravo!
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I agree. The few sentences she spoke were not grammatically perfect, but her accent was fine...and she at least made the attempt.

Which is all that several posters(including myself) have been asking for.
 
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I think the guy with the camera focussed on Albert alone since Charlene looked as she would burst into tears any second. I find Charlene very likable, but what is so stressful about speaking french? She hardly could string 10 words together. Fakt is, she will never be able to speak like Albert or any other native speaker, that should take the stress off her. She can have any accent in the world or make grammar mistakes, but she needs to speak fluently in the sense of vocabulary.
 
I thought Charlene looked very nervous but pulled it off in the end. Hopefully over time she will become a bit more familiar with the French language. Also being in front of the camera in general can be nerve racking for some.
 
ptincess Charlene was afraid not to prononce the message very well as she did last year, this year, she prononces very well the text and she did not make anu fault in grammar apaet sayinf un année instead une année.

Camera focused on Prince Albert because as sovereign , he spoke about the role of monaco and his politic when Ptince Albert wished to the people of Monaco the message of new year, the camera came again on Albert and Charlene.

Monaco is the only monarchy where the prince Sovereign joins whith him his wife for the message of new year. Princess Grace was never with her husband for the message of new year. We never saw the queens with the sovereigns to wish the message of new year. Charlene shows that she keeps to learn french, she will suceed in the years coming. but for now, it is fine for the people of monaco to see the couple together to wish the message.

The palace says that Prince Albert are in South Africa, they visited Mvezo which is at 30 kms of Qunu. They visited futures structures built in this region. They were informed on the problems of the drugs of young people.

Princess Charlene searchs by her foundation to help by sport the young people of this region.
 
Is english the birth language of Charlene?

And Monaco is not a Monarchy...
 
Charlene spoke in French? Isn't that one of the seven signs of the Apocalypse? :p
 
I kind of felt sorry for PC. She looked horrified -- beyond nervous. But she has a lovely voice and we've got to give her credit for the attempt. I hope her New Year's resolution is to tackle this obstacle/weakness and floor us all next time around...
 
Duke of Marmalade said:
I think the guy with the camera focussed on Albert alone since Charlene looked as she would burst into tears any second. I find Charlene very likable, but what is so stressful about speaking french? She hardly could string 10 words together. Fakt is, she will never be able to speak like Albert or any other native speaker, that should take the stress off her. She can have any accent in the world or make grammar mistakes, but she needs to speak fluently in the sense of vocabulary.
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Speaking or writing a foreign language is stressful for many. As their are always people to correct, as I am about to do, so you know how it feels. Fact not with a K. The sentence is "make grammatical errors". So you see it not as easy as you think. I admire each and every person on this site that write in English which is not their mother tongue. It is impressive. You are impressive. Some people wish to be perfect. Some cannot express themselves in a foreign language. At any rate, I, believe, she did very well at this task, short and simple.
 
I thought Charlene did very well and would translate it rather that "I share in this message of good wishes and I wish you a good year 2014 from the bottom of my heart". In that way she is agreeing with her husband and also adding her own wishes. Very proper and a little old fashioned, imo.I'm sure Princess Grace didn't have to do this, but if she had, she was a trained actress and model, not like Albert or Charlene.
Charlene is married to a much older man who is used to having things his own way, and is the sovereign of the country (is used to being the boss). That is quite an undertaking. I for one hope for some good news from this couple in the coming year.
 
COUNTESS said:
Speaking or writing a foreign language is stressful for many. As their are always people to correct, as I am about to do, so you know how it feels. Fact not with a K. The sentence is "make grammatical errors". So you see it not as easy as you think. I admire each and every person on this site that write in English which is not their mother tongue. It is impressive. You are impressive. Some people wish to be perfect. Some cannot express themselves in a foreign language. At any rate, I, believe, she did very well at this task, short and simple.
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See, this is exactly what I said about Charlene's french. I am not a native speaker but I have lived many years abroad, in London, and I still make mistakes and I will keep making them. Because in the end, I am understood and get my message across, that's fine for me. If you can speak a language on this level, its sufficient and nobody should critize. You can still find mistakes etc with Silvia of Sweden, Henrik of Denmark etc who have lived in their adopted countries for decades now. Bottom line is, Charlene's only chance is to just speak and not worry too much about mistakes in the beginning, she will get better with time, but she will never be perfect. But, she still seems to be miles away from this level and needs to improve. Critizising somebody for not speaking a second language not on native level is totally off, those people should shut up as they are most likely not perfect themselves in every aspect of their native language.
 
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I think Charlene's home language may be Afrikaans ( a language spoken in Sth Afr) with English as a second language. On the few occasions I heard her speak her accent was in sync with South Africans who have Afrikaans as a home language although her English is very good.
 
Charlene's first language is English. She may have some Afrikaans but I don't know.
 
Since she was born in Zimbabwe her home language will be English. She learnt Afrikaans ( which is close to Dutch) at school. Many people in SA are also able to speak the traditional language of the area where they live, e.g in the Eastern Cape it would be Xhosa, in Gauteng Sotho. We also know that she is able to use some sign language.
 
as other people said, charlene does not *need* to be in the new year message and is the only consort who joins her husband in it, so i give her some credit for that, even if her accent is not perfect, she still makes an effort.
 
A former teacher of Charlene said in a french documentary which was aired just before her wedding , when Charlene arrived from Zimbabwe in South Africe, she was a entire foreign child. She did not speak afrikaans, she learnt very quicly the Afrikaans language because all the programs of the school were in afrikaans during the times of Apertheid and she was a very good pupil . Her friend and former swimming partner said that she learnt the sign language to correspond with him when they trained together. She speaks two languages english and afrikaans.
 
Well, then at least we know she isn't one of those people who have difficulties with *new* languages...
 
Lee-Z said:
Well, then at least we know she isn't one of those people who have difficulties with *new* languages...
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That throws many theories off, but, now, what is the reason after so many years in Monaco, she still does not speak French fluently? Esp that, as melina pointed out, "she learnt very quicly the Afrikaans language because all the programs of the school were in afrikaans during the times of Apertheid and she was a very good pupil".
Charlene now has all the resources she needs to learn French, she lives in the French speaking country, she has all the time and money, yet, her French is still very weak. Now, since we know it's not her inability to learn, as some pointed it may have been, what is it then?


melina premiere said:
A former teacher of Charlene said in a french documentary which was aired just before her wedding , when Charlene arrived from Zimbabwe in South Africe, she was a entire foreign child. She did not speak afrikaans, she learnt very quicly the Afrikaans language because all the programs of the school were in afrikaans during the times of Apertheid and she was a very good pupil . Her friend and former swimming partner said that she learnt the sign language to correspond with him when they trained together. She speaks two languages english and afrikaans.
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Lee-Z said:
Well, then at least we know she isn't one of those people who have difficulties with *new* languages...
Click to expand...

She was a child then, and kids learn languages very quickly, now she is an adult, and independantly of the reason, the result is a catartrophy, and it is not a single sentence pronounced painfully, to prove the opposite.
 
^Mandla Mandela, his wife (extreme right) Nodiyala Mandela, and his mother Nolusapho Mandela-Perry receive Monaco’s Prince Albert and Princess Charlene at the Mvezo Great Place

Mourning ribbons spark new Mandela fracas - City Press

"On New Year’s Day, Mandla Mandela welcomed Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco, who spent the day touring Mvezo and surrounding villages."
Click to expand...
 
I think Charlene doesn't speak French as there really is no absolute need for it. People in Monaco would know English anyway, so why bother? I don't blame her.

I don't know how well Grace spoke French either. I have read that she felt very isolated in the early 60's because of lack of French for one thing, and problems in marriage as well. - I've never heard her speak French, so don't know. If somebody has a clip of Grace speaking French, it would be great to hear!
 
I still find the comments of Charlene speaking in French funny considering there was at least one video on YouTube about 2 years ago which I thought I posted where everyone around her was speaking French and she didn't seem to have any problem answering. In fact she even stopped to talk with an older man both of them speaking French. It appeared to be a private video.
 
LadyMacAlpine said:
I still find the comments of Charlene speaking in French funny considering there was at least one video on YouTube about 2 years ago which I thought I posted where everyone around her was speaking French and she didn't seem to have any problem answering. In fact she even stopped to talk with an older man both of them speaking French. It appeared to be a private video.
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That sound like an interesting video. To bad it wasn't public (did you mean that it can only be viewed by some on youtube?).
 
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